8.24.2008

I've run out of ideas for clever Post Titles...


Grace has been opening her eyes a lot more today.  Looking at her Mama and Daddy and trying hard to focus on us.  She'll turn her little head at the sound of our voices and squeeze our fingers.  Its sweet, but also heart breaking to see her so vulnerable and helpless.  I'm definitely very anxious for when I will be able to hold her in my arms again...although, I don't think she will really be content until she is in Daddy's arms again...there's nothing quite as enjoyable for her as a Daddy cuddle, (but I totally understand....there is definitely something special about Topher cuddles...)
Daxton and his parents gave Grace this beautiful little Willow Tree figurine.  It couldn't be more perfect if we had had it commissioned esp. for her.  It is of a little girl holding a beautiful golden heart...as if Grace is holding her beautiful new gift...her gold medal.  Thank you SO much.
Topher and I love black and white pictures...and when you take a shot of her cute little toes in B&W, it just doesn't get much cuter than that.
Hopefully all this tape and the ventilator will be gone in a couple of days.  They actually tried a spontaneous trial off the ventilator this morning and she did amazingly well.  They plan on doing another trial this afternoon and again this evening.  If both of them go as well as this morning's, she could be off the ventilator as early as tomorrow!! (knock on wood...)

If she takes a little longer than that though, that is just fine.  We want her to have a nice, slow recovery, and don't want to push her too far too quickly.  Whatever pace she needs to take is just fine. We just feel so lucky to have her, and so lucky and blessed that she was able to receive this immense gift.
So aside from all the cute pictures, Grace is doing relatively well today.  We went to the Sacrament Mtg. held here at the hospital, (which was wonderful as usual) and then went in to see her right afterwards.  They were trying for a couple hours or so to get a new Arterial Line in.  This line is similar to an I.V. but goes into an artery instead of a vein and it measures a continual blood pressure.  They can also draw her blood labs and gases from it as well...however, her Art lines haven't been staying in well the past couple days, and they have been in her groin, which supposedly is a spot that can easily get infected.  So, they were trying to put one in her wrist or ankle, but neither worked.  They re-threaded the one in her groin, but its working very sporadically.  They've been trying to draw blood labs through her right atrial line instead, and this morning discovered a clot in the blood that was sent to the Lab....
At the moment, they're trying to determine if it clotted from sitting in the lab too long, or if they pulled the clot out of her right atrium...or what exactly happened.  Hopefully the clot was not in her atrium, because that would be very unexpected and not such good news considering this is a brand new beautiful healthy heart.
Please pray hard for her today that there isn't a possible large speed bump in her road to recovery.  All her levels have been stable, so it would be very unexpected...but who knows.  
Other than that, Gracey truly does continue to amaze her nurses, Doctors and especially her parents.  She constantly is a reminder of her amazingly strong spirit.  And never once has she shown any signs of slowing down or giving up.  Granted she has amazingly strong family on both sides, and amazing examples of strong women.  She was named after her wonderfully stubborn, faithful and strong Oma, and she has definitely lived up to her name and much more. She has many more examples of faith and strength throughout both lines of her family, and I am so happy that she will be able to live a life learning from all of them and teaching a little of her own as well.
Thank you for your prayers! Keep em' coming!!
Love you all! Have a wonderful Sabbath!
the Andersens  

9 comments:

Amy Finnegan {BookshopTalk.com} said...

Oh, man, I'm sure you have been preparing yourself for at least a few minor bumps - probably even some big bumps - along Gracey's road to recovery, but I bet it makes it no easier when she does hit a possible bump.

The good thing is that they are keeping a very close watch on the possibility that it could have been a real clot.

That makes me come up with a million questions to ask . . . can they give her blood thinners at this point, and why would the clot indicate that something could be wrong with the heart itself? I'm sure you're asking a lot of questions as well. And you don't need to answer my own, I'm just curious about all this . . .

But I guess all there is to do now is wait for the pros to put their thoughts together and come up with a conclusion.

I am just SO thankful, though, for Gracey's new heart! I cannot get over how great the timing of it was - with that very complicated procedure set for just 4 weeks from now - and I can't help but feel the Lord had a very strong hand in it all.

And if that's the case, which I have faith that it is, little Grace will pull through all these road bumps and be out running the rest of us for many years to come :)

Lots of love!!

Em said...

I can not believe how pink she is! It is incredible! I love the little figurine-we got our sister-in-law that one to honor our little niece Gracie and her sweet heart. They have a boy figurine too,holding a heart, that we were given when Ryker passed away. We are praying for her that she will be okay and be able to be strong to be extubated and get home. She truly is a miracle.
Heart hugs,
Emily and Mike
Heart hugs,
Emily

my life: said...

She is so beautiful.....the tubes cannot mask that!!! You are being so brave....know that your family is being remembered in my prayers...

M&M factory said...

I think that your blog is the most read out of any I know. Grace really is amazing. One of my friends has a girl who is 2&1/2 and she has had ceasurs (Spelling) her whole life. Now she has about 5 a week and sometimes more. Then my nefew had one and died. So I just wonder what makes some babies so vunerable and others fight so hard? My only answer is the Lord's time. When my nefew died his mother told me of something in a book by a general authority which said that life might be shortened because of our actions and choices but it cannot be lengthened, when he needs these little angels, he will take them home.

kalani said...

I love love love that video. I could watch it over and over. She makes my heart very happy. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful baby! Her color looks SOOO good! We have been Gracey fans for a while and continue to pray hard for her and your little family. We are friends to another Heart Angel and hope and pray for your Grace.

She looks beautiful! Thank you for sharing her story with us!

The Gough's

Pam said...

Sending lots of prayers your way, that this clot is not a major bump. Grace looks absoutley beautiufl.

Soon she will be extubated and in your arms, I just know it!!

((HUGS))

Pam and Rhett

Unknown said...

She looks great...so good to see! You are such good parents, she is lucky to have you!

Sarah Maples said...

You have a gorgeous baby girl. I just wanted to say a quick note about the clotted blood sample. I'm a medical technologist and I don't think the blood could have clotted from sitting in the lab too long. The tubes the blood is drawn into has anti-coagulants in them. It is possible however that the tech did not mix the sample well enough to anti-coagulate the sample. The most common issue with arterial lines is sometimes blood will clot in the line itself despite heparin flushes to try to prevent this from happening. I'll pray it wasn't from her heart though and that it was something else. Also, a clot would have a hard time passing through the tubing and needle. When you draw back, it would plug up like what happens to a straw if you try to suck a strawberry through it. This also makes me think it wasn't from her heart. Did I mention how gorgeous Grace is?